Rob Sprankle
Rob Sprankle is an intellectual, musician, history buff, (hopeful) graphic novelist, and Tolkienite. A friend of Kenny's since Middle School, Rob is currently a junior at Sanderson High and is mostly active in Troop 214, where he first met Sam Gale and Kenny Jones. Rob's initial reaction to the rather mismatched pair was amused confusion, which was later formed into solid respect and professional opinion. Pre-enlightenment (Birth-8th Grade) Born on April 12, 1995 in Raleigh, North Carolina, Rob's pre- and elementary school experiences were rather nondescript. That is not to say, however, that he does not remember them--Rob's short and rather fragile capacity of patience often got him in trouble at York Elementary. A rather defensive child at first, Rob made no lasting friends at the establishment, barring his neighbor Chad. Rob would later say of the establishment: "May God strike me down with thunder and lightning if I ever have to send my kid back there". However, while attending the school, Rob became familiar with both The Lord of the Rings book/movie trilogy and the Lego franchise 'Bionicle'. Both would become major inspirations to him in later years. In fourth grade, Rob made the life-changing decision to abandon the name 'Robbie' in favor of the current, shorter dimunitive. Rob would describe life at Daniels Middle School as: 'judgmental. You couldn't do a damn thing without being put on trial.' That said, while Rob didn't exactly fit into the cliques and meritocracy of the middle school world, during this time he became fast friends with Kenny and the other members of the botched 'Generic Patrol' of Troop 214. Historians have mostly agreed that the primary reason Rob and Kenny became friends at first was through a reference to Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Rob's all-time favorite comedy film. The most memorable moment of their early friendship was during a ride to Elizabeth City Coast Guard Base with Joe Huergo, Ross Gattis, and Javier Castillo. The featured film of the ride was Jurassic Park, and through a masterful combination of wit, sarcasm, and outright humor, the group of five was successful in destroying every scrap of credibility the movie may have had. From the film The School of Rock, Rob quickly took an interest in music of many different genres. In keeping with his sister's legacy, Rob joined band at Daniels, but with four teachers in three years, Rob had practically abandoned any ideas he still harbored about professional musicianship. His personality in Middle School, in fact, was 'his lowest point of life' as Rob would say of himself later. Reserved and defensive to the point of being antisocial, compounded with the stress of his studies and Boy Scouts, Rob had many times considered faking his death and starting over in a different part of the country. Unfortunately, Rob was forced to limit his interaction with Kenny to a minimum during this time, due to his dad's supreme and unwarranted hatred of Sam Gale. What inspired Rob to keep any sort of ambition was his hope for a better future, and the acquisiton of his first iPod--a device which did wonders to preserve his patience and sanity. Post-Enlightenment (High School) 'I think when I joined marching band at Sanderson, I officially became a person not just to the rest of the world, but to myself as well.' Rob's salvation occurred over a period of three months--his first season as a freshman in the Sanderson Marching Band. When he dropped his trumpet (literally) in favor of the baritone, Ro b joined the now-infamous SHS Low Brass Section--a moment in time that Rob would forever look back on and admire. Being part of a team who actually cared about what they were doing, and being taken seriously in his own turn, Rob abandoned his defensive shell of cynicism and downright douchebaggery for perhaps the first time in his life. Also as part of his enlightenment, Rob shaved his head ('a failed experiment that I will never repeat again') and decided to let his hair grow out. Rob's interest in soundtracks expanded with his purchase of Halo:Reach, a game which then would influence him to begin working on his graphic novel, that currently bears the working title Pendulum. Rob had toyed with the idea of a novel for many years, inspired mainly by novelists such as Tolkien, Salvatore, Jacques, and Fraser. He never seriously started working on the novel until he received the graphic novel The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen for his 15th birthday, and then adapted the (failing) project to a graphic novel on advice from his sister during a 3-hour brainstorming session in Oxford, England. Current Activity Rob is currently a junior at Sanderson High School in Raleigh, NC. He plans on becoming the brass captain of the SHS Marching Spartans in the 2012 season as well as finalizing his application to the University of Virginia. He is currently active in BSA Troop 214's Border Patrol, though he plans to dip out in May 2012. Rob's biggest domestic project is the graphic novel known as Pendulum, about which he has referred to Kenny many times. He also hopes to create an RTS with Kenny's help. He is currently (and has so far always been) single, a fact about which he is surprisingly open and nonchalant.